Just a few pictures of Belle and Remi from the last year

Remi and Belle
Belle

Remi

Remi and Belle

Remi

The first puppies meet their new families

Lexi was the fifth pup to go home this weekend on saturday afternoon. She was greeted by Scott and Kelsey (soon to be) Wichman from Hutchinson, MN. They are planning on getting married next July so they have a lot of exciting things going on in their lives right now. Of the first five groups of people to come they took the shortest amount of time picking out their little girl. She was the first one that ran up to Kelsey, and I think it was love at first sight. They were looking for one of the lighter colored pups and Lexi was one of the two little girls that were lighter in color. I really enjoyed getting to meet Scott and Kelsey and am excited about the home that Lexi is going to.

Derek and Heidi Sorenson of Erskine, Mn picked up Sasha on Sunday afternoon. They had a long weekend and Sioux Center was the last stop before heading home. They had two weddings in (if I remember correctly) Fargo, ND and made the circle south on Sunday to pick up Sasha. They ended up making it home about midnight on sunday but not before having a flat tire in the last 40 miles of the 700 plus mile trip. Derek said Sasha was very good throughout the whole trip and even managed to give them a pretty good nights sleep the first night not whining and barking much at all. I'll be curious if that pattern continues or if their will be a few sleepless nights in the next week. It seems as though most of the pups have had pretty good first nights so hopefully that is a good indicator for the last three getting picked up this weekend. Derek is an avid Waterfowler and Sasha will have plenty of fun tromping through the sloughs carrying around big old Canadians this fall already. Derek and Heidi have about 35 acres for Sasha to run and play with a pond so as they say she is going to be living the "dogs life"

Rolly, Nadeen, Riley, and Kendall Desmarais get the long distance award for not only this litter but every litter I have sold. They drove down from Winnipeg, Manitoba and were here Saturday afternoon to pick up Summit. Summit was the second of the two males and the smaller more laid back one of the males. They stayed the night in Fargo and made the rest of the trip home sunday morning. All in all it sounded like it went pretty well, other than a little bit of whining in the motel. The Desmarais' are one of the friendliest families I have ever met, and I know that Summit is in great hands. Summit spent Monday with Rolly at work, and he said he's figuring things out quickly. It was fun to watch the kids' reaction to the pups and this is both Riley and Kendell's first dog! They had pets when the kids were too young to remember, so it is always fun to see the pups going to homes that have children that are ready to give them lots of affection. Rolly and Riley plan on getting Summit's feet wet this fall on some Canadian Geese and Waterfowl hunting and I really look forward to following how Summit grows with his new family and especially hearing about the new bond that is formed betweened the kids and him.

Doug Jensen drove down from Minot, ND Friday night and picked up Samantha or "Sam" for short. He didn't have his name picked out until he got home when he let his nieces pick it out for him. Doug took his time getting home stopping multiple times to let Samantha run and play and even found her first pheasant alongside the rode. Well techinically it was dead already, but he said she absoluletly loved it! Doug is a carpenter/construction worker and plans on taking Sam to work with him everyday. She spent monday helping around the jobsite and even managed to jump out the car window while Doug was finishing up some concrete work just in time to get her footprints set in so that everyone could remember she was there! Samantha was the second female picked and Doug had his eye on her from the very beginning. He was patiently waiting and watching while Jack was making his rounds checking out each pup multiple times. I could just tell Doug was hoping that Jack wouldn't pick "his" pup, and in the end both of them got the one they wanted. Doug pretty much hunts anything that moves, so Sam will probably be the most versatile hunting dog when its all said and done. From Pheasant, Ducks, and Canadians in the fall to Snows in the Spring, Sam is sure to have a lot of fun chasing whatever it is Doug decides to hunt that day. Doug also spends a lot of time big game hunting; elk, deer, mountain lions, black bear, and pretty much you name it. Hopefully someday I'll get to join Doug on one of these trips to Colorado because that is something I have always wanted to do!

Farah was the first pick of the 7 girls and makes her new home in Rosholt, SD. Jack Christenson came at about 10:30 on saturday morning and had the toughest job of everyone picking out the pups. He was here the week earlier so he knew he had his work cut out for him. It is always tougher and takes longer when you to choose from all of the pups. Especially when there are 7 females to choose from. Farah is going to be one spoiled little girl and already has Jack wrapped around his finger. He said the first night she didn't make a peep and she has already figured out that she is home. She is independent and doesn't mind going off doing her own thing, but also loves to cuddle up next to him and take a nap. Jack called me the very first day I advertised the pups and we have been in constant contact since. His story is a heartfelt one that I won't go into detail with but will say I am extremely happy for him and the love that those two are going to share over the years. When someone says "its just a dog" I think I will have the speak to my new buddy Jack because it is something much more than that!! And until you have the true companionship that Jack has had with his dogs over the years you will never know what that is like. When he first called me he shared with me that he will be having to put his best friend of the last 18 years to rest, I knew that my pup was going to be in the right place! That's right I said 18 years. His Springer Spanial has gone everywhere, and done everything with him for the past 18 years. I can about imagine that the two of them have seen just about everything a pheasant can throw at them, so with Jack's wisdom and knowledge Farah is sure to have a great teacher! Jack had to put his Springer down 2 weeks ago so I am glad that Farah could go home with him saturday to help fill that void! I said I wasn't going to go into detail about "his story" and in all honesty I am not, there is much more to the story but to sum it all up, Farah is one special part of Jack's life right now and as Jack told me," will be until the day he dies!" None of us can really fully grasp how much this pup means to Jack, and it is with great honor and joy that I can say she is all Jack's!!! I just hope I did a fair job bringing her up for the first 7 weeks. The rest is all his to enjoy!

The pups keep telling me everyday how excited they are to go home!! They were a lot of fun tonite just sitting and watching it amazes me that only 6 weeks ago they were barely moving and were so dependent on their mother to do everything for them, and now the completely opposite. I can hardly keep up with all of them and it takes a watchful eye to make sure none of them sneaks off somewhere they shouldn't. With each day the show more and more personality and as they venture further and further out its fun to watch where their curiousity leads them. A lot of them were doing their little pointing thing tonite. Whether it be my daughter dribbling the basketball on the court in our back yard, a new smell, or leaf blowing on the ground. Their natural instinct kicks in and tells them to stand still until they figure it out even more. I got what I think is a pretty good video of one of them creeping up so you can see what I am talking about. Like I said its just so much fun to sit and watch how they react to every new little thing. I love doing what I do with the pups and its going to be hard not having them around in another week. I will have "Cody" until the middle of July until Tyler gets back from Afghanistan.

The pups have changed a ton in the last couple of days. They are way more independent now and roam the yard a lot more freely. They chase anything that moves so your feet are pretty much fair game at this point. It used to be you could take a few steps and they would give up the chase, but now they pretty follow no matter how far you go. They are definately starting to show personalities more and more each day. I am able to pick out the aggressors and the more laid back ones. I have a couple little girls that pretty much climb in and out of their little pen and roam the patio whenever they want. At times I catch them in the act on the other side by Belle and Remi and other times I know they were out because of the messes they left behind. They haven't quite learned to clean up after themselves yet and I think I will leave that part up to you. They are also starting to show some sign of the pointing instinct. When they hear a noise or see another pup coming a couple of them will freeze until they figure out what the noise is or their sibling gets close enough to attack. I got one pretty good picture of that. They are playful, playful, playful right now. They love getting their bellies rubbed and wrestling with their brothers and sisters.

Well, the pups all checked out on Wednesday and everything is well. The vet said they look great and they varied in weight from 4.5 to 7.1 pounds. We gave them their shots and kennel cough and they will get another round before they go home. I'll try get a vaccination schedule posted on one of my pages to make it an easy reference for you when the pups go home. Wednesday evening I took Belle and Remi swimming so I took a couple of the pups with me. They enjoyed the new scenery and one of them even ended up in the water (but only because he rolled down the bank after Remi knocked him over) It really didn't bother him much though. The pups had their first new owner visit yesterday afternoon as well. Jack Christiansen came down to take a look at the pups and get an idea of which one to choose next week when he takes the first little girl home. It was a pretty tough day, the warm weather made them lazy so they weren't real active, but another week of developing and a trip down in the morning will cure the laziness. This morning I cleaned and let them run for about an hour and a half. They are getting to be more and more work, but I do enjoy it. If I didn't I wouldn't keep doing it every year. Every time you walk out side they attack your shoes strings and you have to be careful not to step on any of them.

Just a quick update before we head to bed! The weather is great so the pups have been getting a lot of outside time. Yesterday and Sunday they played outside for a few hours throughout the day and even played so much in the hot sun they tried to find a nice cool place to nap. They were panting pretty good by the time they decided it was time to take a nap. Their were a lot of kids over after school to play with the pups since it was so nice. They are definately getting socialized and used to the human touch. They are also getting tougher to clean up after and keep tabs on when they are outside. Tomorrow they go in for their 5 week check up and shots so I will keep you updated with how everything turns out.

Here are a few more pics for everyone to enjoy. The pups got a lot of playing time outside and were panting pretty good b/c of the heat and humidity. The one little girl found one of Remi's toys and was dragging it around the yard like it was a dummy so it was pretty fun to watch. If any of the other pups would try get it she would run away from them. I went in to get the camera and came back out and found that Remi had reclaimed her toy, but I got it back to the little "light green" girl and she did it all over again so I was able to snap a few pictures today. This afternoon the "baby blue" girl was out of the whelping box I put her back in and out she jumped out again. Whenever they hear the door open most of them perk up and they stick their little paws on the top of the box with their heads poking out to try and see whats going on. They also whine and cry a lot and try their best to get out! Sometime this week I am going to open the box up and give them about 50 more square foot to roam in the box. Its getting a little more cramped in there for all of them and this will give them more of a chance to roam around more and then they will all lay on the steps and wait for someone can come out so they can attack their feet.

The pups are getting better looking by the day, and changing so much. We had our first escape artist yesterday. One of the females got out of the whelping box twice yesterday, so it wont be long until the rest of them follow in her footsteps. Maddy and I painted their nails this morning so I can start taking mental notes about what types of things they do. I can tell a couple of them apart just by looking, but they are all so close we need a little something more to help keep them apart. Some use collars, but I have found in the past that they never seem to stay on. I let them out this morning before church for about an hour while they were fed and I cleaned the whelping box. In only 2 weeks from today a good majority of them will be going home and then you can have your fun with them. They absolutely love their feeding time as you can tell from the picture. Three pups to a plate and they are pretty intense when the food comes out. Their little tails go straight out and they get down to business. There are a couple hogs that seem to cover the whole plate with their body so the others can't get at the food, but they all get their portions. Belle is feeding them less so I have been pushing the puppy food the last couple days. I gave them a little hard food this morning and they loved that about as much as the wet food.

Sorry I haven't posted for a few days now. My computer had some issues so I was waiting on a friend of mine to come by and take a look at it, so for now he dropped me a loner so I can keep everybody posted. The pups have changed a ton since I lasted posted. They have been out in the yard everyday since I first let them out, and they are getting fast! They are checking things out more and more and they love to play with your feet and/or whatever else they can get ahold of! They respond pretty well to me when I call for them and clap my hands they come running to see what all the excitement is about. They are starting to enjoy doing their own thing more and more and aren't concerned so much with what all their brothers and sisters are doing. They are a starting to growl and bark in a playful tone with each other and me and are so much fun to just sit and watch. I snapped a couple pictures of a them peeking their heads up over the top of the whelping box. A few of them are getting ever so close to pulling themselves over the side and climbing out. They get themselves pulled up with their back legs hanging but don't quite have enough strength to make it all the way over. It will only be a matter of time before one of them gets lucky and uses his/her brothers and sisters as a step ladder to make it the rest of the way over. When that day comes I will open up the front of the box and give them some more room to roam and start marking them with nail polish. They are getting to the point where their personalilies are starting to show so I am going to do that in the next couple days so I can keep track of what pup does what. They also had their first exposure to real food. At 4.5 weeks they are ready to start eating some wet food and give Belle somewhat of a break from nursing. They also were introduced to water earlier this week. They drink some and they play with it a lot. They stick their paws in and occasionally tip it over. Anyway they are all doing great and getting closer and closer to meeting their new families.